


Snowfall

by MultiFandomMcFrikinMess



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Haha Sorry, Illness, couldja guess, d-d-d-death, elmer and his family, elmer and snow, its about snow, its angsty, not really - Freeform, okay ish, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-26 03:00:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13848663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MultiFandomMcFrikinMess/pseuds/MultiFandomMcFrikinMess
Summary: So in celebratioon of the snow actually gracing me with a half assed dusting while the rest of the country is buried under feet of it, i wrote a lil angsty thingy





	1. Once

Once, Elmer had loved the snow. He would look out at the swirling masses, dreaming of faraway lands and the magic in them, while relishing the sugary coffee his mother had made for them. He would throw snowballs at his seven siblings or build snowmen with the other Newsies to guard the lodging house. When it snowed, the city of New York was transformed from the gritty streets they knew into a fairy-tale landscape, full of enjoyment and wonder. Elmer loved how in the cold, wintry weather many people would feel more generous and pay more for the papers he’d sell, or donate clothing for him and the other boys. The snow changed so much in the world, and it became a brighter place for everyone, no matter who.


	2. Then

Then, Elmer watched the heat of the flames melt the snow and thaw the ice, dispelling all the cold. Even the wind had lost its bite. The truck was a blazing skeleton, its bonnet lodged in the wall of the tenement building. The heat from the flames had caused the snowy skids from its path to melt, making it seem as though it had been placed there by a cruel act of god. Choking, billowing smoke burst out the windows  of the building and disappeared into the sky above, replacing the smell of his mother's hot drinks he had been expecting with the stench of chaos and destruction. The ferocity of the blaze dried up his clothes, wetted from when he had collapsed to his knees in despair, and evaporated his tears before he could even shed them. It had kept him warm that night on the street, where had knelt, unmoving until Specs had found him the next morning on his usual round, covered in a light dusting of snow, that had started to fall again. It was as if nature had seen what it had done and was trying to pull a white sheet over the carcass of its mistake.


	3. Now

Now, the snow was fierce. The snow was a harsh storm, waiting to take anyone from this world, never to return. No longer did people feel the charity that the frost used to bring, instead huddling close and secluded in their coats and scarves, with nothing more than half a thought or a penny quickly thrown at the numbed Newsies that lined the street corners. No - the only thing the boys would receive in this weather was death and illness, which came en masse. The city was bleak, as Elmer looked out at the flakes that leisurely fell, bed-bound and feverish. He smiled as he spotted his family’s faces dancing in the flurry, staring and grinning back at him. The salty tears that drew tracks down his face and splashed to the floor went unnoticed as he made up his mind. A small smile flickered across his face, the first to grace him after that lonesome night when he lost them. He left his coat behind as he made his way out into the biting blizzard. After all, where he was going, he wouldn’t need it.


	4. After

After, his small body was carried to the Newsie graveyard, and a brief but heartfelt burial was given. Elmer’s small frame was gently laid to rest with an ornate coffin, courtesy of Katherine, who had wept just as much as any other Newsie once she heard the news. In his hand, he clutched at the small vial of ashes he had collected from the scene of the fire, almost two years earlier. Across his face, a small smile still played from his last moments on this earth.  Only the body of the shadow of the boy who used to love the snow so very much remained. All this he watched, as the winds carried his soul away.

**Author's Note:**

> come yell at me on tumblr  
> https://multifandommcfrikinmess.tumblr.com/


End file.
